Appropriate cage for a Senegal Parrot

[lzver]

Also, I ignored his calls while he was in his cage and only went in the room when he was quite.

If I'm in another room, I don't ignore my birds calls. It is instinct for birds to call out to their flock to find out if they are still there. You are his flock. I've gotten to know Lucy and Jessie's calls and wherever I am in the house I always call back and let them know I'm still there. I find that usually settles them down for a little while because they know I'm still there. You may want to try that.

But its also good that you approach him when he's quiet. The last thing you want is a bird that is constantly calling for attention.

[Alexander]

Thank you, Izver. I will try to respond to some of his calls and let him out of his cage only when he is calm. By the way, I think I managed to make him stop coming on my shoulder. What I did was to make him step up without delay as soon as he landed on my shoulder, leave the room and come back to him after some time and reward him. I think it worked, but I believe I will have to repeat this training several times before he has learned for certain not to come on my shoulder whenever it pleases him.

Thank you all for your help, by the way! I really appreciate it!

[Alexander]

Just a short update of how things are progressing with Rubie:

He has become more obedient regarding the shouldering thing. I don't let him sit at all on my shoulders. I would like to teach him to sit on my shoulders when given permission and not whenever it pleases him and I think I have made some progress on this. Today, we advanced in target training and I think I might do one more target training session with him before moving on to our first trick (before that we did a couple of sessions of clicker training). I was impressed with how easily and fast he learned to bite the tip of the stick in order to be rewarded. Also, through repetition he has sort of learned to step up (the only time he doesn't follow the command is when he lands on my shoulders and I try to make him step up).

He has also familiarised himself with his new cage and all of the toys and perches I have placed. The only thing I need to solve is to somehow make him not to poo in his food. I saw him once sitting in his cup and I believe that he does that because it resembles a nest of sorts so I am thinking of buying him a nest where he can hide and rest when he needs to.

I will try to take a couple of photos of him as I promised.

Alexander

[Michael]

Don't put a nest in. While the bird is young it's less of an issue but as it matures, that can trigger hormonal/mating behavior which can also lead to aggression.

I'm glad you're working issues out now because it's still easy. It's much worse when you have a bad track record for several years and then want to change it. At this stage, if the bird was bad about going on shoulder for 2 days, and you keep it off shoulder for 10 days, that's all it will take for it to learn. But if it were 2 years...

Just remember to maintain good habits and not get sloppy. If the parrot really likes being on the shoulder, use it as a treat for good behavior. A way to train step up and let it enjoy the shoulder simultaneously is to ABSOLUTELY NEVER let it on your shoulder unless it steps up first. So always block it from landing on shoulder. But instead try to get a step up and immediately place on shoulder. Eventually make it random and less frequent when you do or don't put on shoulder as result of step up but the parrot will have learned the step up behavior.

[pchela]

If he is sitting in his cup he may just want a flat place to stand sometimes or a more comfortable place. Do you have a rope perch for him? Those seem to be more comfortable... all three of mine sleep on their rope perches. You can also buy flat ledges that attach like a perch but provides a flat place for them to sit.

Sounds like the two of you are getting along quite well!

[Alexander]

Thank you for your advice, Michael - very helpful! I am trying to block his way towards my shoulders whenever he flies away and tries to land on them. He always steps up when he is sitting somewhere else other than my shoulders, but today I noticed that it was much easier to get him down and he didn't complain a lot.

I am now trying to get him have a bath (fortunately he doesn't do it in his cage), but he is afraid of the sink and the bathtub and I don't have a perch for the shower. I don't think he ever had a bath because he smells a bit funny. Also, there is a tiny patch just below his beak where his feathers are not well formed. Is it because he is still young?

Pchela, I do have a rope perch, but it was the last item in his cage that he grew accustomed to. Now he sits there very frequently and I believe that he also sleeps there. I was thinking of buying him the following perch. Do you approve of it?

http://www.papaso.de/product_info.php/i ... edium.html

Also, here are some photos of him from today:

[Alexander]

Ok, I think there is something wrong with my Senegal. I was just looking at some Senegal parrots' pics and the ones I posted here and I noticed that Rubie looks a bit fatter under his beak (where the feathers don't seem right, too). Today, I touched him there softly and it felt like touching my adam's apple - hard and "bony", not soft at all. I don't think this is normal... He was like that before taking him home, so before starting to get all panicked I would like you to tell me if you think this is normal. Thank you!

[Michael]

Sounds like he's over fed and you're touching his crop?

[pchela]

They all have the "adams apple" thing in their necks. I freaked out the first time I felt Pippins but it is normal. As for the crop being bigger... it's possible that he has some crop stretching from being overfed. I don't know if that's the case, but it is a possibility though I think it is rare in feathered chicks. You might google stretched crops just to see.

The perch you selected for him to sit on is perfect!

[Alexander]

Oh, thank you both so much! You don't know how relieved I am to hear that. I'll check about his crop, though...

He is indeed overfed. The breeders fed him sunflower seeds and apple pieces all day long and they suggested me that I should do the same, but of course I did not. I don't feed him sunflower seeds at all and I have also started converting to pellets, but it will take some time because I don't want to hurry the process. It is good however that he is skilled at flying (it has also made the recall training a lot easier). I will try to let him out of his cage more often so that he can exercise a bit.

Thank you again!